As the Leaves Fall
by floppypancakes12
Summary: Autumn isn't quite your typical teenager, she's the daughter of the Dragonborn, but despite what everyone thinks it isn't that wonderful. She's stuck in Riften, but she craves more than merchants, and petty theives who get caught in the night... She wants ADVENTURE!
1. I Wake Up

**So hi readers! However many of you I have... Confirmed so far I only have two readers, so if you read this pretty please review! This is my first Skyrim fanfic, and I'm thinking about doing multiple stories with this main character, I put a lot more planning into this than I usually do... So, without further a do, presenting "As the Leaves Fall!" (might change that title later...)**

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 1: I Wake Up.<em>

I wake up. The crisp Skyrim air flooding my lungs with life, I see sun streaming its way through the window, into my dusty little shack. The little dust particles illuminated by the soft morning light. I sit up in my simple bed with its linen coverings and rough pillow, and I take in my surroundings. On the nightstand by my bed sits a small washbasin. I get up and wash my face, the brisk water chilling my face, and instantly waking me up. I quickly reach for a towel to dry my face. The simple cloth material warms up my face a little. In the mirror, I see the somewhat familiar round face staring back at me with her forest looking green-brown eyes, and messy auburn hair. I brush my hair into a more presentable state, and put on my normal blue dress, feeling refreshed, and ready for a day of adventure. Of course, I can't expect too much from this small town of Riften, where the most exciting thing I'm allowed to do within the walls is swim in that tainted liquid they call water. If only I could go outside the walls, but that would be too dangerous for a fifteen year old. Instead I'm stuck inside this boring, corrupted excuse of a town. I shouldn't complain, after all, we have a beautiful house, well, they have a beautiful house. I live in a make-shift shack beside it, but it's not that bad, I do have my own space.

I walk out of my shack, and into our home, through the bitter morning air. When I get inside our log-cabin feeling house, the familiar sound of the crackling fire next to the doorway instantly makes it feel like home. My gold haired mother is talking to the twins. The little brown-haired trouble makers, but they make up for what problems they cause by being adorable. They notice me and continue with their usual morning conversation. I wonder what it is this time… taking Talen-Jei's favorite flagon, and filling it with skeever bait, or more likely that they found a mysterious dog, and are now trying to persuade Mother that they can take care of the poor fleabag. As I can now see a shaggy grey wolfhound lying on the floor next to the fire, where did they find it?

"But Ma! Can't we please keep it?" Alarik whines.

"Yeah! He could hunt for his own food outside the walls," begged Alan in an almost identical tone, "and he could clean up after himself, and bring back food for free! We wouldn't even have to buy it!"

"I can't answer yet; we have to wait until your father gets home. Your father and I have to make these decisions together." My mother explains sweetly.

"Well, what are we going to do with him until then?" asks Alarik.

"For now, he can stay outside." Mother replies coolly.

"When will Pa be home anyways?" I inquire curiously.

"Soon enough I expect, when was the last time he was here? About two weeks? I'm sure he wouldn't miss the special occasion that's coming up here in a few days. He'll be home soon…" She trails off, "For now, could you go visit Marise, and buy us some fresh meat, or fruit? Here, this should buy enough," she hands me about fifty coins, "if you have enough left over, you can buy something for yourself."

"Thanks!" I chirp, and head off to the marketplace. Pa has a rough job, one of the most physically demanding jobs I've ever heard of. Despite that, I would give just about anything to go with him… He is the Dragonborn, but he has many other titles, this being the most common. He's hardly ever home, and once he was away for so long, Mother thought he was dead. He came back though, he always does. This is why I'm never allowed to go outside of the walls, to explore, to have _fun_. Because Father has seen the dangers that can be out there, and never wants to risk us kids getting hurt. But I'm not a kid anymore! I'm almost sixteen, in fact that's the big event that Mother was talking about, my sixteenth birthday party. I was hoping for something fun, like an adventure, maybe dad would take me with him… Probably not, but a girl can hope can't she?

The marketplace is bustling with mid-morning merchants, and a few gullible gawkers, who would easily buy a gold necklace for ten coins. I go right around The Bee and Barb, to the little corner of the wall where Marise sells her fresh meats and produce. I stop by and start a little friendly conversation. The dark elf chats with me sweetly, and offers me some of her produce. I look through and find some nice goat legs for thirty-five coins, which leave me with fifteen coins, so I buy an apple for the last few septims, and head home, after thanking Marise. When I get back the dog is tied up outside the house on a stake, I can see that the job is very shabby, and straighten it up a little. I go back inside the house to find everything in perfect order, like it normally is. Ma is a great house-keeper; she always keeps everything in good shape. I put the goat legs in the cupboard, and go downstairs to the boy's room. I find them playing and practicing with the daggers dad gave them a long time ago. I clear my throat at the door. "Hey, do you guys know where Ma went?"

"Oh, hi, Autumn, when did you get here?" Alan asks.

"Just now," I reply, "did mom go out to tan some leather for selling?"

"Umm… I think she went to the meadery, to um, see if she could get her and dad some mead, for uh, your birthday… yeah!" Responds Alarik unsteadily.

"You'd better be telling me the truth…" I tease, "otherwise I'll have to take you to the tickle troll!" I come after them making silly noises, and trying to catch them. They run away shrieking with laughter. I catch Alarik and start tickling his stomach, and Alan comes up behind me and tackles me. Before I know it, I'm pinned to the ground by two small eleven-year-olds.

"Oh, no! What're you going to do to me?" I ask, in my best frightened voice.

"Well, I think we'll have to tie you up, and put you in the dungeon!" Alan smirked.

"Yeah! Where all the spiders live!" Alarik exclaimed with pleasure.

"Not the dungeon," I pleaded, "anywhere but the dungeon!"

"We have no choice prisoner. You tickled us, and now you must pay the price." Alarik says in a mock serious tone. Then they tie my hands up behind my back with some weak ropes, and take me downstairs to their room. One stands guard, and the other keeps making remarks like, "let me guess, someone stole your sweet roll." Or "I would be a lot warmer, and a lot happier with a belly full of mead." They mock the guard's silly accents, and ridiculous comments, and every once in a while, they trade off. Until I decide that it's time for me to break my bonds and escape. The rope was always weak enough to snap and fray with a little bit of struggling, and I loosen them just enough so that I can slip out of them unnoticeably. After I do that, I ask for a drink of water, while one goes to get it, I overtake the currently guarding Alan.

I shout, "Prison break!" and run past Alan, and up the stairs. Where I find Alarik's chocolate brown eyes set on me, cup of water in his hands. He sets it down and comes after me, but I hold him off with tickle hands, and walk towards the door.

He whispers, "You win this round prisoner," and tries to mysteriously walk down the stairs backwards. It doesn't end well, he trips on the second step, and falls the rest of the way down the stairs, with multiple thuds, and he shouts, "I'm okay!" This doesn't stop me from checking on him, he looks ok, a few bumps and bruises, but aside from that he looks fine.

"How do you feel? Really?" I ask tentatively.

"A little rough." He replies simply.

"Will you live, or do I need to kiss it?" I ask with a smirk.

"I'm fine! Totally good! Never better!" he responds hastily.

"Ok, you sure?" I tease, while poking him a little in his ticklish spots.

"Absolutely." Alarik giggles.

"Good, I'm going to go outside for a while. If Ma asks tell her I'm just out being responsible." I wink at them, and head back upstairs, and hear them whispering.

"Do you think she's going to the stables?" One of them asks.

"Most definitely. Probably to see Theodore." The other states.

"I heard that!" I called, and I hear them giggling like the little boys that I love.

* * *

><p><strong>So, was it good? Who is this mysterious Theodore? Will Autumn ever leave Riften? Will the twins do more guard impressions? All this and more, in further chapters... Just gonna have to see about that... Missfabulous09! Hold me accountable to making more chapters on this... Oh well, I should be on top of things here, I do really like this setting...<strong>


	2. I Walk

As the Leaves Fall

_Chapter 2: I Walk Out_

I walk out the door of our lovely home, and see that the day has quickly turned gloomy. Just this morning it was nice and crisp, but now the sky is grey, and seems upset, because it is spitting little rain drops. I walk around the now bleak looking city, and turn to the front gates. The only exception to the _don't-go-outside-the-walls_ rule is the stables, where a good family friend lives.

Theodore is around my age. My dad helped his dad, the stable owner, with a horse thief problem a couple years ago. Around the same year we moved to Riften, I was about seven years old, and Theodore was eight.

Prior to living in Riften, we occupied Hjerim in Windhelm. Those days were especially dismal, the weather was always cold, and personally I have always despised the cold. I do like Riften better than Windhelm, but I would rather live in the capitol city of Solitude.

Just outside the gates is the stables, and filling the stables are the beautiful dapple-grey horses. They are strong and noble, like most horses in Skyrim, but I prefer the paints from Markarth. I have never been to Markarth, but travelers have occasionally come to Riften, for one reason or another. I don't know what it is that attracts me to the paints, but whatever the horse they make me feel like wandering forever…

As always, my freedom is just out of reach.

I knock on the stable door, and a young man with a triangular face, high cheekbones, and short ebony black hair comes to the door. Theodore. I've known him for so long that the only way I can think of him is as another brother.

"Hey there, Autumn." He says warmly, and walks outside to talk.

"Hi! How's work been?" I ask.

"About the same… How is that adventurous scheme of yours coming along?" He asks slyly.

"I don't think I'll be getting anywhere with that… I'll have to take it up with Pa, and that can't possibly go well."

"Come on, I'm sure he'll have to say yes, especially with your sixteenth birthday coming up."

"But what if he says no? I might just be destined to die in this city…"

"Really? Why do you even want to go travel? It could actually be dangerous, your Pa definitely has a good reason for whatever he does. He is the Dragonborn after all."

I sigh, "I know, but I just don't want to live my whole life boxed up in some small town…"

"You're being over dramatic. You'll get out of the house eventually. Just wait, in a few years, they'll be begging you to get out of the house!" He teases.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask defensively with a smile.

"Nothing! I'm just saying that if you really want out of Riften, you should either ask your parents, or wait until they think you're old enough. Don't run away."

This strikes a chord in me. I wasn't really going to run away. All I really want is adventure, more than anything. I would never want to break their hearts like that… "I wasn't ever really going to run away…" I confess.

"Then why did you tell me you were?"

"I just want out of here now…"

"Do you realize how hard that would be? You'd have to hunt for your own food, build fires, and fight. There are more wolves and bandits out there than you think. Not to mention the dragons."

"I know," I reply reluctantly, "and I would miss the twins so much."

"Are you sure you're cut out for adventuring? I mean, you're so attached to your family…"

I give a slight chuckle, "You say that like it's a bad thing…"

"It's not… I think… but don't you think being on the road all the time would, well, put a wedge between you guys?"

"No! How could it?" _Would it?_ A little voice inside me asks.

"It's just… you're so close to them, how do you think it'd affect your relationship with them? I mean, you'd still love them, and they'd still love you, but you might lose something with them… Ugh, do you get what I'm saying?" He says looking a little flustered.

"I think so…" I can't think of anything else to combat his argument with. It would be hard to keep up with the twins. Then a thought pops into my mind. "But what does Pa do all the time?"

"Do you feel close to him?" He sounds unconvinced.

"Well… Yeah, sort of… he's just so distant, I love him, he's a great dad, but he's never home…"

"See? If you go through with this adventure, you'll have to sacrifice your relationship with your family."

I know the instant that he says this, that he is right. I can't have both. However he is exaggerating a little, I can still be there for them, I can still come back and see them. I would still have to sacrifice a little bit of our relationship. At least I could keep a familial bond with them, but over the years that I will be gone, I can tell, things will change…

"Why do you have to go and be such a dark cloud?" I ask jokingly.

"I just want what's best for you, and your family." He says honestly.

"Me too…" I trail off. For a while, we just sit there, thinking. About the future, about life, about what's for dinner… My stomach gives a grumble.

"Whoa! You hungry?" Theodore asks.

"Well I suppose so! Or did you think there was an earthquake?" I say sarcastically.

"With your stomach it's hard to tell!" He retorts, and pats my belly, then begins to run towards the gate, because he knows that I will not hesitate to hurt him. I instantly chase after him, and when he gets inside I'm only a few yards behind him. I sprint inside the gates, and see him heading to Honeyside, our house. I'm sure he thinks he'll be safe where my mother can see him, but that doesn't stop me from trailing him inside.

The twins are sitting at the table while Mother is preparing dinner, and looks a little startled to see me and Theodore burst through the door.

"Why do you two look so frazzled?" She requested.

"We were having a race." I lie, and Theodore gives me a frightened look that seems to say, _What are you planning? _And I say, "first one in gets first plate, but Theo cheated, he got a head start." I smile mischievously at him.

"Oh really?" Mother says, "Because it seems more like you were trying to clobber him." She smiles back at me. "What happened?"

"Busted!" The twins remark simultaneously.

"Well, You see… um, I was-we were-" I am saved from my lead tongue by someone opening the door behind us. Through the door we see a tall dark muscular silhouette shrouded in an intimidating set of ebony armor.

In a deep voice that seems to shake the foundation of the house, the figure bellows "I'm home!"


	3. I Stare

I stare. The gigantic Nord figure is crowding the doorway, which seems a little small for him. He comes inside the house behind Theodore and me. "Pa!" The twins exclaim with ecstasy.

"Boys!" Father gives an equally elated cry, and continues. "Autumn! Have you grown since I've last seen you?"

"I suppose it's possible, a lot can happen in two weeks. Where have you been adventuring?" I ask, letting a little envy creep into my voice.

"Oh! There is so much I have to tell you!" Pa really appreciates having someone like me, to whom he can divulge all the secrets of his wanderings to. I know that Mother doesn't thoroughly enjoy my father's ravings about killing this or that bandit in some obscure hold she's probably only been to once. I, on the other hand enjoy them to the fullest, seeing how this is about the closest thing to adventure I can get until I am approved to go out on my own. "The reach looks beautiful this time of year."

"I'm sure it does," Mother trails off, "but unless it helps get dinner ready, at the moment I'm rather preoccupied."

"Aw, have some fun Mjoll, you used to be so full of fire!" Father shouts boisterously, emboldened by his homecoming. "What happened?" he questions tentatively.

"I married you!" She says simply. "Then, you wanted kids! Do you have any idea how they suck the life out of you?" She asks smiling at me and the twins.

"Hey!" Alarik whines in a faked-insulted tone.

My father considers this, and then he saunters over to Ma, who is standing over the fire. "And I love you for it." He says in a seductive tone and in one fluid motion, sweeps her off her feet, holds her in his strong, well-muscled arms, and plants a loving kiss on her lips. All the while, the twins, Theodore, and I are shielding them from our view and making disgusted remarks.

"Get off of me you over-romantic brute!" She laughs playfully. "Now if you all want food, you are going to have to be patient, and wait for it elsewhere, this kitchen is getting crowded!"

We all secede from the kitchen slowly, and reluctantly. We move our small gathering downstairs to talk, since we don't really have a den, we use the twin's bedroom and use their small beds for chairs, and occasionally using the chests as benches. I ask Father about his least interesting escapade, in order to save time for his more exciting experiences for dinner.

Pa instantly launches into a tale of a few bandits who didn't have the sense to know who he was, and soon enough Ma calls us for dinner.

Dad is just finishing his story while we are heading up the stairs, and find that a wonderful feast has been prepared in our absence. She couldn't have possibly have prepared this so quickly, so I come to the conclusion that she quietly made a brief trip to the market. The feast is marvelous nonetheless. There is a large pot of stew taking up residence at the center of the table, and a goat leg to the left, there is also a large assortment of cheeses, and breads. There are also a number of grilled vegetables, my favorite being potatoes. I know by the smell that she is preparing a pie for desert.

Our table has a rectangular shape, and six chairs make their homes around it. I sit at the chair that is closer to the wall, on the goat leg's side of the table. Father sits at the head, and Mother chooses the chair at the opposite end, where she can see him perfectly. The remaining three boys sit in the remaining chairs.

After everyone has settled into their seats, the face-stuffing begins. I lose all previous esteem for manners, and instantly fill my plate and bowl. I know the beef stew is hearty, and I save it for the last part of my meal, so that I don't fill up before I can get a chance to try the cheese. My stomach starts to complain while I try to decide what to eat first.

The potatoes are calling me, so I begin with those, the warm skin feeling hot on my fingers. When the root touches my tongue, I taste the butter, and light coating of cheese follows as I begin to chew. After the potato, I move on to my piece of the goat leg, which was prepared with a liberal amount of salt. I put it between two slices of bread, and put a small slice of cheese in between. The cheese melts almost instantly. I eat the creation quickly while my stomach is growing more content. I then eat some grilled leaks, and move on to the stew. The beef broth is good, and I chew on the meat and cabbage, which gives a slightly bitter taste, but the smoothness of the dish puts it all together. When my bowl of stew is mostly finished, I take some bread and begin to sop up the stew with it.

While I am absorbed in my plate of food, I barely notice the conversation that is taking place. I think that Pa is caught up in unfurling one of his dramas, but when I hear my name my attention is instantly grabbed. He was telling a story, which I missed the most of when he says, "Just think what Autumn could do."

It looks like I'm the only one who was stopped dead in their meal. Ma is continuing to disassemble her piece of goat leg. Alan and Alarik keep eating their bread and nod their heads at Pa to let him know they're listening, but Theodore almost chokes on his cheese.

Since I wasn't paying attention for most of Father's story, I have to ask what he was talking about.

"Well, I was in Markarth and there was this little girl working the forge, she must have been at least Alan and Alarik's age. She's apprenticed to one of the blacksmiths there, and she can make some fine jewelry. So I think, _what could Autumn do with some metal? She might be able to make a descent set of armor_." My heart sank, and across the table, Theodore gives me a look that says _now would be the perfect time_.

So I prepare myself for the worst, struggling to get the words off my chest that have been eating away at me for a long time. "Dad… I-I think that I want to be something more than-than a blacksmith."

I know instantly that this wasn't the right choice of words, that I will be misunderstood, because his reply is so simple, "Well, you don't have to be a blacksmith, you can be a merchant, or a farmer, you could even be an innkeeper, no matter what you do, we will always love you."

"No," I begin to argue my point, "I mean, I want more than just a simple life… I want to be an adventurer like you…"

The shock surrounding my words is unexpected; I thought my frustration with this corrupted little town was evident. I mean, I didn't exactly ooze home town spirit. Pa just hasn't been around the house for long enough periods of time. He probably really did expect that I wanted to have a small town life, raise a family like this one. I know the pain of not spending enough time with us, because I feel the same way about him.

"Oh, you do? Why haven't you told me before?" He asks as he puts down his fork and knife, giving me his full attention.

"Well, you never asked?" I say as if there is a right answer, and then confess, "I was too scared, I thought you might laugh, or say no… or both."

He looks at me for a while with a blank expression on his face. Then his blank expression turns into a smile, which turns into a grin, and the unexpected happens. He releases a booming thunderous laugh. So I think, _that's it, I'm done, he thinks I'm too weak._

Just when I've lost all hope, everything turns around _again_, and he says "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would love to take you with me sometime!" I have an instant feeling of elation, and it feels like the weight of the world has been lifted from me. I feel like I could jump to one of our moons with a single leap but once again I am stopped dead in my tracks. My guts begin to twist in the confusion of it all.

"But, my love, don't you think it's a bit dangerous for her?" Mother asks. I know that convincing her won't be easy, and if Father really does want me to come with him he will have to do some major convincing.

He senses that this will not be an easy argument to win, and says, "Why don't we talk about this after dinner?" and with that the table is silenced. We go back to eating our dinner, and the rest of the meal is very quiet. Theodore does try to get some conversation going again, but most answers he gets a "yes" or "no" nothing more.

After the meal is finished, Alan, Alarik, Theodore, and I go outside to avoid the heated discussion which is bound to take place at any moment. Not that things get like this often, but occasionally Ma and Pa have arguments. Normally it's about him not being here enough, but this time, it's about me. It's my fault.

The evening is still gloomy, but the gloom clears up just before sunset. I can tell it is going to be a beautiful morning. We walk around to the center of the town. The sun disappears in beautiful colors of red, orange, and a touch of pink against the darkening blue sky. When the sun has finally dipped below the horizon, I realize that everyone is being extremely quiet. I can barely hear them breathing.

I turn around, and see that they are a step or two behind me. All of them are looking at me. Theodore has a slight smirk on his face, but the twins are quite unreadable.

"What?" I ask curiously. I can tell Theo wants the twins to go first, but when they remain hushed he has to answer.

"You did it." He smirks a little more, and the twins look shocked.

"You knew? You knew she wanted to leave?" Alan looks a little upset.

"Well yeah… she told me a long time ago." Theodore answers him.

"You told him and not us?" Alarik asks me.

"I'm sorry, I've just never been happy here, except when I'm with you guys." I explain.

"Why do you want to leave then?" Alan questions.

"The only thing that I want that isn't here is adventure," I say gently, "But I know that I'll have to be away for long periods of time. That's going to be the toughest thing for me-leaving you guys."

They seem touched, and look like they've forgiven me. I'm glad too it would break my heart if I broke their hearts. We walk back to the house in stillness, and when we reach our home it sounds as if Mother and Father are still talking. We can tell it has calmed down, so Alan and Alarik go inside, I go to my shack, and Theodore heads home.

I decide to wait for the morning for the results of the dispute. My shack is just as I left it. The barren wooden walls greet me when I walk in, my plain décor as bland as usual, but I can't help but feel at home in my tiny shed. I take off my dress and put on a simple night gown, then slip into the covers of my bed. I am engulfed in warm linens, and I drift vaguely into a dreamless sleep.


	4. I Turn

**Hey guys, sorry about not posting for a while, I had a few crazy weeks, (I do not like being busy…) and I was hit by writer's block… hope this chapter is ok!**

* * *

><p>I turn.<p>

My bed feels nice, and has absorbed my body heat. I do not want to get up. My mind is flooded with memories from the previous day, and my desire to start the day surprisingly decreases. I wrestle with my thoughts, doubts, fears._ How will I ever cope here for two more years knowing that the twins know that I don't want to be here? What have I done? I should have waited for my birthday, and then the answer may have been more desirable._ I struggle with these nagging ideas until I come to terms with them. _Whatever happens will happen. You have no control over this now. The worst that could possibly happen is being stuck here with a family that loves you for a few more years._

After I come to realizing this, I decide to get up. I wash my face, brush my hair, and put my blue dress back on.

Then I notice it. In bed I was too engrossed with my predicament to look at my surroundings, which remained unchanged, besides a small chair next to my door. On the plain wooden chair rests a bow, with a quiver of arrows slung over the backboard, and a gorgeous dagger resting beside the bow.

My heart leaps. I have no clue how to react, but my eyes begin to sting, so I bite my lip. These weapons mean more to me than many things. They are not only a dagger, a bow, and some arrows. They are my freedom; my freedom to have a life of adventure.

The bow is small, not too heavy for me to draw back, but still takes some strength to do so. It is a simple wooden bow, but the carvings on it are beautiful. A few woven patterns, and when the bow is horizontal I can make out an owl with its wings outstretched, on the other side, a fox seems to be hiding in the weaving.

The arrows that came with it are steel. There seem to be about two-dozen of them in the quiver.

The dagger, oh, it's beautiful. I don't know how to describe it, it seems to be of elven origins, but the metal that makes it is oddly colored. It has a slightly green tint to it making it a beautiful jade color, and some runes seem to be imprinted into the metal. I can't read whatever it says though. It must be in some foreign language.

For now, I only take the dagger, and fasten it to my belt. Its dark leather sheath, which has a gold looking wire entwined around it, looks nice against my blue dress.

I go outside where the fresh air and morning sun greet me. I find the grey wolfhound still tied to the stake. I stoop down, and pet the poor mongrel. "Hey there buddy, we forgot about you didn't we?" he wags his shaggy tail, and I promise to bring him some scraps.

I walk into our house, Pa is talking to Mother, and the twins are nowhere to be seen. They are probably pulling mischievous pranks on unsuspecting passers-by.

Pa finishes his conversation with Ma, and then turns to me. "Good morning Autumn, how did you sleep?" He asks me nonchalantly.

"I slept well, thank you. Hey, do you know if there is some kind of reverse thief out there?" I ask hinting at the weapons.

"Only me." Father replies and I run up to hug him. I throw myself onto his broad form, for a moment he seems startled, but he shortly hugs me back.

"But your Ma doesn't want you going out alone just yet; these were just an early birthday present."

"That's ok! They are beautiful! Thank you so much!" I can hardly contain myself.

"Do you want to learn how to use them?" He whispers loudly.

"Is that a trick question?" I wink.

"C'mon, I set up a practice area." He leads me outside into the alley beyond my shack. There is a gate separating the small area from the rest of the alley, just in case someone decides that they need to come through. I go through and see a dummy with bull's eyes set up on its arms, head, and chest. Next to the dummy is a simple bull's eye target, this one, for now, is for the bow.

"Wow! This is great, I think this might be my best birthday yet."

"How about your first formal training session?" He asks, and I just nod my head rapidly. "Ok, should we start with the bow or the dagger?"

I think for a moment, Father gave me a very simple dagger a few years ago just in case I _had _to defend myself. I know some fundamentals of archery, but I have never shot a bow before. "I'll go get my bow." I decide quickly, and I rush back to my cabin and pick up the beautifully carved wooden weapon, and set of arrows.

When I get back Father has his bow ready for a demonstration. I come through the gate and we stand to the east of the simple target. I grip the bow in my left hand, and Pa begins to instruct me.

"Now, you want to stand with your feet about shoulder length apart, angel your body so that you're in line with the target, like this." He adjusts his stance so that while I am on his left, his back is facing me. I turn myself, and alter my stance to his instruction. "Ok, now pull out an arrow, and make sure you knock it on the string."

I take out a steel arrow, and knock it on the string so that the feathers won't catch. "Here comes the tricky part," he states, "keep the arrow steady, if you have to put one finger over it that's ok. Pulling it back might be difficult at first, but you just have to get used to it. You'll want to pull the bow up. Don't. Try and keep it level."

He pulls out an arrow, knocks it, and shoots it in what looks like one fluid motion. Within a matter of seconds, there is an arrow flying down the alley, which shortly imbeds itself in the bull's eye.

I pull on the string with my right hand, the string pulls on my fingers, making it difficult to draw back. "Pull it back to where the string is touching your nose, or find another anchor point."

The string is heavy on my weak fingers, it is getting harder to hold it, the arrow wants to go somewhere else, but I hold it in place. "Aiming is simple, it's just like throwing a ball, use your instinct, take your finger off the arrow, and let it go."

I look where I want the arrow to go, take a deep breath, and release the string. "Ouch!" I yelp. The bow's string has slapped the inside of my forearm, and my flesh looks a little irritated.

"Oh! And don't lock your elbows, stay loose. You ok?"

"Yeah, more startled than anything. It hurts a little, but I can keep going." Pa puts away his bow to pay more attention to my form. I lose a few more arrows at the target; my first has managed to hit the dummy next to the target I was actually aiming at. My other arrows vary from hitting the wall above the target, the ground below, and a few have actually managed to hit the target.

Pa makes a few more comments, and often has to remind me to breathe. I eventually run out of arrows to shoot, and we have to go pick them up. It seems a few have mysteriously vanished, they probably got lodged in between some wood, hiding from the unsuspecting eye.

By this time it seems like midday, and I was so excited I forgot to eat breakfast. Though last night's feast was filling, I can feel hunger begin to gnaw at my stomach.

"You did good." Father says, "You just have to get used to it, how about a break?"

"Sure! Some snacks too?" I ask.

"Absolutely, I'd bet there's still food from last night." So we walk back to the house. My arm has started to bruise and hurts when I touch it.

We walk past the wolfhound, and I stop to pat him on the head. "Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask yesterday what the dog was doing here." Pa says.

"Oh, Alan and Alarik brought him home yesterday morning. They wanted to know if we could keep him, but Ma told them that they had to wait until you got home until she could answer." I explain.

"I might want to take him with _me_, it's hard to find a good traveling companion these days, but if _you_ come with me then they might need a good guard dog." He teases, and we walk into our house. Which is still mysteriously lacking twins.

"I am definitely not a good guard… but luckily thieves never seem to come to the house. Why could that be?"

Pa chuckles nervously, "Well, who would want to rob the Dragonborn?" We look around the kitchen for a few things to eat. I grab some bread, and Pa gets some meat and cheese. We eat our snack, and Pa gives me a few more pointers. The dog was brought inside the house shortly after Father chose that we could keep him.

"Now, if you really want to go adventuring out there, alone. We really need to work on your self-defense. You're not horrible with the bow, but you still need a lot of practice. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

"How could I get hurt with the best warrior in Skyrim as my coach?" I ask friendlily.

"You don't get it." He states plainly, "there are people out there who would kidnap you, and if they found out you were my daughter, they would do horrible things…" He trails off, and I know that he's right. What a valuable pawn I would be in the hands of my father's enemies, how they could torture me to find out secrets which I may not even know the answers to. There are already bandits, and thugs waiting for an easy target, but being the Dragonborn's daughter only makes it more dangerous for me. But how hard could it be?

"The more danger, the greater the adventure!" I say rather haughtily.

"If you think so…" Pa trails off, with a touch of sadness in his eyes.

I try to change the subject back to training. "So when do I get to learn how to use the dagger?"

"Whenever you're ready, daggers can be more difficult to combat with. You have to get in close, and use it wisely. That's why I like to use my great sword; it's easier to take out those pesky assassins who mostly use daggers. I never really asked you what weapon you would actually like to use…" He ponders this for a while.

"It _is_ a birthday present, it would have been less of a surprise had you told me, and the dagger is already so beautiful."

"Yes, but I could have gotten you an elegant sword, or a warhammer."

"Pa, you choose wisely, I probably couldn't even pick up a warhammer, it would be way too heavy."

"I suppose you're right…" He seems to think for a while, and then says, "If you want to leave Riften anytime soon, we have to get you trained quickly. I didn't get you any armor because I wasn't sure what you would want: light or heavy, both have their advantages. If you're going for a scout feel, light would be good, though it wouldn't protect you as well, but it seems like heavy armor would just weigh you down… What do you think?"

"Hmm… I think light would be more my style." I state simply.

"Heavy armor would provide better protection in an ambush, where you have no choice but close combat."

"Yeah, but I would also lose some speed, and become an easier target. With light armor, I could move and dodge faster."

"How do you know so much already?"

"I've wanted to leave for years, strategy would be really useful if I were to run away." Oops! No, what would he think, that I wanted to leave so badly that I'd risk breaking my families' hearts again? "I mean oh… I would never have really run away… It would be too hard for me – I just wouldn't be able to go far… ugh, I have such a big mouth."

Once again Pa surprises me, he doesn't look angry when I take my face out of my hands, but somewhat amused. Like he's reminiscing about something that happened a long time ago.

"What is it?" I ask, confused.

"You just remind me of myself when I was a lad." That's all he says. I've never known much about my father's childhood, nobody does. It must be something he doesn't like to talk about, I know it probably wasn't the best, but he turned out ok. He does have a loving family after all, he's the Dragonborn, and we're not poor by any means. But despite all this, he refuses to talk about his childhood, maybe he can't remember. I decide not to ask him about it. It would probably be best not to bring up tough topics after he just gave me the most beautiful set of weapons I've ever seen.

"So how much training do you think it'll take before I'm ready?" I ask, more anxiously than I would have preferred to sound.

"Well… you have to be conditioned enough to carry your armor, and weapons. You have to be ready to kill in self-defense, which isn't as easy as it sounds, I still have nightmares about the men that I killed." That last bit surprises me a little, I never heard that he had nightmares. "But if you are committed to this adventurous lifestyle, you have to put up with a lot: freezing weather, bandit attacks, _nightmares_." I'm not sure how to react, but I know I want to leave, and I am going to have to experience something really horrible if it's going to turn me back.

"So how long should that take?" I ask more tentatively.

"Hmm… At least four weeks, maybe more…" He ponders for a while.

"And if I were to work really hard?"

"At the _very_ least, maybe… two… if you pushed yourself to the absolute limit. We'll need to go out and hunt for practice, I could take you with me on my adventures for a while, as long as you do exactly as I say." After he says this I am firmly resolved to push myself to the absolute limit of mind and body here.

I am going to prepare like my life depends on it, and in a way, it does.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! Another chapter, I hope it was good, and not too long… yeah I've been super busy lately, so it took me about 3 weeks to write this, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and that I wasn't too longwinded. I'm trying to move the story along a little bit so that we can get to the adventure part soon. I also had a lot of fun describing the weapons, and the bow techniques, I have a bit of a background with shooting bow and arrow myself, so I hope I didn't get to technical. Have a nice week everyone, and I'll try to get a new chapter posted soon!<strong>


End file.
